Wife killed by husband in Edinburgh murder-suicide had filed restraining order hours earlier

A volatile marriage marked by abuse, arrests and restraining orders took a tragic, final turn Monday night when a man shot his wife before turning the gun on himself, Edinburgh police say.

Amber Stitt, 30, was walking near the intersection of Franklin and Center Cross streets when her estranged husband, Kevin Stitt, 30, pulled up on a motor scooter and shot her with a .380-caliber handgun, witnesses told police. Kevin Stitt then shot himself, police said.

He died at the scene. His wife died soon after at IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

In the aftermath, court documents, police records and family accounts paint a tumultuous picture of a young love turned violent and bitter, especially in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Amber Stitt declined to press charges after her husband threatened to kill her, and when she later sought a personal protection order — on Monday — it proved too late.

The couple met when they were about 15, said Kathy Kiser, 56, Edinburgh. Kiser said she was married to Kevin Stitt’s father from about 2003 to 2010 and said she knew the couple well.

“He was funny. He was always laughing and making jokes,” Kiser said of her former stepson, who worked as a mechanic. “They’d been together a long time.”

Kiser described the relationship as “off and on” and said in the past few months Kevin Stitt hadn’t spoken often of his wife or their teenage son.

Kiser said she was shocked when she heard of the murder-suicide and never expected it from a man with whom she said she spent many holidays.

“Kevin was such a good kid. I can’t believe he would do this,” she said. “I always loved him. I never had any problems with him at all.”

Amber Stitt’s family says there’s another side to the story.

“They separated numerous times, but they got back together,” said Charles Burton, Amber Stitt’s uncle. Recently, they had been separated: Amber Stitt lived in Edinburgh, while Kevin Stitt has an address listed in North Vernon.

“He was actually a super, super good guy,” Burton said. “He just needed professional help.”

Edinburgh Police Chief David Mann described the couple’s domestic violence past as “extensive.”

Kevin Stitt was arrested in January 2007 on a criminal recklessness charge after he went to his wife’s workplace and discharged a shotgun into the air, police said.

In August 2010, he was arrested and charged with battery resulting in bodily injury, an incident that involved Amber Stitt, Mann said.

In both cases, court documents indicate Kevin Stitt either pleaded down charges that carried extensive jail sentences, was placed on probation or received a suspended sentence. Jennings County records show he served five days of a yearlong sentence for the battery charge after a judge suspended the rest.

The problems continued until Monday’s incident, as Burton said the couple separated and still fought, sometimes over their son.

On Aug. 12, police were called to Amber Stitt’s house in Edinburgh, where police arrested Kevin Stitt on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting law enforcement, Mann said.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Amber Stitt told police her husband choked her, then “told her that he was going to shoot and kill her and then kill himself.”

But she declined to press charges, the affidavit says.

“Everybody wants to believe their loved one will never hurt them, that things are going to be better,” Mann said. “And all too often, they don’t get better.”

Kevin Stitt bonded out of jail on those charges, Mann said. Eight days later, Johnson County clerk’s office documents show, he applied for and received a restraining order against Amber Stitt. It was unclear Tuesday why he filed for the order.

Amber Stitt also filed one just before noon Monday — hours before her husband shot her, police said. According to court documents from the Aug. 12 incident, police had recommended she get one.